I orignally included tiny wooden dowels in the materials. However, the kiddos realized that the dowels were too big for the pony beads. The dowels were quickly discarded for red, white, and sparkly pipe cleaners

How the Kids Played
The children immediately began placing the little plastic lights into the fine motor Christmas trees. They loved the colors, as well as the shape (they look like tiny lights). These lights really were perfect for pre-k kiddos’ hands!

Once they realized the dowels wouldn’t hold the pony beads, the kids searched out the pipe cleaners. They were so happy to locate the pipe cleaners so they could thread beads on them. I actually think the pipe cleaners were better than the dowels because the children were able to shape them easily.

The children loved decorating, and un-decorating, the little trees for quite some time! They only stopped because we had to clean up and move on with our day. As we were cleaning up, at least five of the students asked when we were going to do this activity again. I already have it written in my lesson plans for next week!

Other Ways to Play
Many of the children were keen to take the fine motor Christmas trees home at the end of the day. Since there were only a total of 4 Styrofoam cones, this wasn’t something we could do. I’m hoping to find smaller versions of the cones at my local craft store. This way, the children could each have their own tree in our classroom windows. They could be movable works of art!

Playfully Practicing Important Skills
I’ll admit it, as I looked at the finished trees, all I could think about were the Daleks of Dr. Who fame. If I wasn’t a preschool teacher, that might be all I would see! I can understand that it might be easy to look at an activity like this and wonder what the kids get out of it. In addition to all the FUN they had (and isn’t that, alone, worth the experience?), the kiddos:

Ann, you are too sweet! 🙂 Those foam trees/cones are holding up super well! The kids have used them over and over, and I’m pretty happy with how long they’re lasting with the rough use. Let me know if you try it at home!!!

Thanks, Jessica! We’re still having fun with those Styrofoam “trees” — they’re holding up super well! I love using materials in different activities, too. Let me know how it goes if you and Little Engineer try it out. 🙂